Montana Gas Prices on the Rise, Depsite being below National Average

Gas prices saw a minor jump in price this week as motorists geared up for the holiday weekend. Gasbuddy.com Senior Petroleum Analyst Will Speer hopes the refineries increasing efficiency will help slow down the rising gas prices.

"There was an excess in demand because of the big driving Memorial Day weekend," Speer said. “So because of that, that’s really put some pressure on the gas prices you know compared to what the national average is Montana is still trending way below that.”

Nationally, gas prices sit six cents above the $2.26 average price in Montana. Despite being lower than the national average, gas prices in the state have risen substantially with a 17 cent increase in the past month.

“Refineries in the areas were not operating very healthily,” Speer said. “So as these refineries have really improved how hard their running. We're now sitting at about 90 to 90.5% utilization that’s good news for motorists because Montana had been seeing some pretty steep hikes in the past few weeks”

Gas and diesel prices in Montana remain the lowest we’ve seen for more than a decade.